I can’t drive, but I don’t mind cycling through. Let’s save the environment, burn me a few calories and get around. You say I can only live in Santa Barbara or somewhere like that? Even better. I love that town. (Seriously, I’ve been there. It’s gorgeous!)

Except, it’s not as easy as packing up my car and driving there. And before you rush to comment on how expensive the city is or how difficult to survive in LA, or leaving loved ones behind, I’ll do you one better:

I need to leave everyone behind in a different country.

And I don’t mind.

As much as I love my friends and family, I’ve wanted to be involved in making film in Hollywood since I was a little kid.

I don’t even have to develop skills like freelance writing or managing social media to support myself. I’ve got those.

Two polished scripts, a manuscript that can easily be turned into a script and a fully-developed idea for my next project? And a few more concepts that need some work on? Oh, I have that too.

What I don’t have however is a clue on how to get the right visa that will allow me to live and work in the States permanently. (I’m currently researching. I started with D’ALESSIO LAW GROUP because I caught a webinar from them through Stage 32, and they seem to know what they are doing.)

The USA might not welcome illegal immigrants, but it’s not exactly making it peachy for folks who want to come legally either.

I need one hell of a resume for O1, but the kind of work that will give me that resume is in LA in the first place. Talk about a Catch 22.

Of course, I can try and sell the script from here, whose process I’ve already started. But screenwriting deals rarely happen fast. And I can’t seem to agree with script consultants on some stuff. I’m all for improving my script, but not compromising what makes it the story I want to tell.

I don’t want to have the money and connections to move to L.A. when I’m 50. I want it now. I’ll take that PA job people seem to be hating. I can write on the side.

So next time, I’d love to see more posts on how people made it to Hollywood without having born in the States, having relatives in the States, won the green card lottery, married someone there or worked for decades in their own country before making the jump.

I’m 30. I’m ready.

So really, tell me how to get hired to work there from here. Then I can share those tips with the rest of the world’s enthusiastic filmmaker.

I do want to move to L.A. The mindset is there, even some initial savings to get me through the first couple of months.

If you’ve been writing for a while, chances are you thought about consulting. It’s a terrific way to help others, as well as to increase your authority and income.

That said, like all worthy ventures, several important questions come to mind before starting:

Which areas are you going to offer consulting/coaching on?

Which methods are you going to use?

Will you be offering phone, face-to-face and/or e-mail support?

How much will you charge?

And

How did other successful freelance writers who you’ve been following for a while get around to it?

Today, you’ll be getting the answer for the last (but maybe the most inspiring) question on the list from the lovely Lauren Tharp.

Lauren Tharp

Lauren Tharp is the face behind the award-winning writing blog LittleZotz Writing, associate editor and community manager of the amazing BAFB and the new Editorial Assistant the famous of CopyBlogger.

Enjoy!

What inspired you to offer consultancy to other writers? Character traits, certain experiences, your mentors…?

In 2013, I had partnered with a freelance editor with the plan of offering a class to writers and editors looking to start their freelancing careers. The editor ended up going in a different direction; however, I still thought the idea was fantastic and wanted to pursue it on my own. So I decided to start offering one-on-one mentoring.

I was fairly confident I could do a good job because I had worked as an English tutor when I was younger, and was briefly a children’s martial arts instructor. If you can control a room full of kids throwing punches at each other without anyone getting hurt, you can command pretty much any crowd. [laughs].

When did you feel ready to offer this service? How long had you been writing/blogging?

This is a difficult question to answer. I’ve been writing for pay since I was a teenager – and I’m in my thirties now – but I didn’t make it my sole source of income until I was twenty-five. So I had been writing for over a decade; however, I had only been in business for about three years.

What was your biggest challenge as a consultant, and how did you overcome it?

Over the years I’ve become a bit anxious about talking on the phone. I do well in writing and when I’m interacting with people in person, but I find exchanges that are purely voice-based to be a bit nerve-wracking.

So, since I couldn’t visit every mentee in person, I ended up utilizing Skype’s instant messenger function. That way, I’m able to do what I do best: Write. And, that way, my mentee is guaranteed to get me at my best.

They even get a PDF transcript of our conversation to refer back to when we’re done!

Do you have any favorite resources on this topic? (Links to your own posts will be appreciated too:))

Well, since you said I’m allowed to link to my own posts, I do have these two…

What advice would you give writers who are thinking about offering consultancy services?

Practice answering questions elsewhere first. Either find ways to get yourself interviewed, or answer them on your blog, or do a video series. When the time comes to actually mentor someone, you’re not going to have time to carefully think over your answers – so it’s good to have practice answering questions elsewhere as training to prepare for that moment.

You should also think about what you’re good at and who would be the best client to teach. For me, I decided early on that my favorite type of mentee was someone just about to start their freelancing career. My own mentor, Sophie Lizard, prefers to teach people who are a bit further along. It’s going to probably be the toughest decision you make – next to the decision to mentor at all! – but it’s worth putting a lot of thought into.

*

I hope you enjoyed the interview. Don’t hesitate to spread the word if you found this helpful.

The truth is I’ve always been somewhat smart, or at least sensible, with my money.

Despite a brief fascination with Levi’s products in the 90s as I was growing up, I never really had a fascination for brands. As my friends shed their family’s money on Lacoste, Burberry and many other brands I can’t remember, I spent on movies, music and books.

Sure, I bought clothes and shoes and accessories too. Look, I love shopping. I’m just not (that) addicted. Compared to Rebecca Bloomwood, I’m a financial wizard.

I’m a freelancer who’s adamant she’ll only take on projects she’s enthusiastic about. Linda Formichelli is right in a way: it’s very difficult if you only try to write about what you love. That’s why I also teach ESL. I’d rather teach English (I love the language, and I love teaching it) than write about something that bores me. I also can’t learn to love something according to the paycheck it provides. I tried.

While I don’t really spend on things I don’t need or don’t care for, there are “luxuries” I refuse to cut back on, such as:

-Nero coffee (Starbucks too, but I like Nero more, to be honest.) And by coffee, I mean mocha. And other stuff I eat and drink while I do my writing at their numerous branches.

– Screenplay coverage: I’ll argue this is more a professional necessity than a luxury, but it costs money. Add to it if you also want it proofread. Add some more for the coverage of your resubmissions, as first submissions are rarely a consider or recommend.

Add even more for other screenplays. You have to have more than one. If not, please stop reading. Bookmark this post, and come back to it after you’ve done some screenwriting. This post isn’t going anywhere. If it does, I’ll let you know.

– Cabs. I love cabs. Granted, I don’t often take them as much as Carrie Bradshaw does. But I certainly appreciate the option.

– Vacation abroad. I need one at least once a year. I can’t always afford it, and it’s not pretty when I go cold turkey.

-Vacation at 5-star hotels/holiday villages. I’ve never been the backpacking or camping type. I like the outdoors as long as it comes controlled, so I won’t have to deal with poisonous or otherwise dangerous animals. I’ve never appreciated tents. And call me crazy, but I do love indoor plumbing and hot water. And food cooked for me. And big, clean pools. You get the idea.

Luxuries I want to have:

– Traveling first class. For the leg space more than anything else, to be honest.

– Rush jobs on my script coverage. Waiting for feedback on your writing sucks. Because let’s face it, we do more waiting as writers than most other folk. We wait for editors, agents, studios, etc. to answer to our original email. We wait for the answer to our follow-up email. We wait a reasonable time to count it as a rejection, we wait for our piece to be published.

We wait.

The problem is writing is personal, even when we do it professionally. We care if people care about our ideas. We get excited if they like the finished product. And chances are, if you are writing fiction, you get even more attached to your ideas. They’re kind of like your babies, admit it. They shouldn’t be, but they usually are.

So if you can get your script coverage faster, why not do it if you can easily afford it? I haven’t really been able to up to now.

– Eating healthier all the time at restaurants that are Monica-clean. Typically, fast food is cheaper and easier to obtain. Unhealthy snacks are usually more available than healthy ones. And by healthy, I mean the natural stuff. And I hate cooking. Damn it!

How do I plan on keeping the luxuries I have, making them more frequent and reaching the others?

By making more.

I don’t believe in saving to the point that you stop living and enjoying your life. But I do believe at this point in my life, I can live without 500-dollar-a-pair shoes.

It doesn’t mean some shoes aren’t worth it. It just means it’s a luxury I don’t care for at the moment.

So you can (and should) save according to your own needs and preferences. For more guidance, I recommend I’ll Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi. I love that book. It’s fun, understandable and practical. It’s slightly more helpful if you live in the USA, but with some research, you can benefit from it no matter from where you are from.

Let’s face it, sometimes marketing can be a real drag. I’m all fine with more indirect ways such as commenting on blog posts, having an updated resume on LinkedIn and keeping in touch with writers and editors. I’m even okay with sending query letters. But I haven’t sent any LOIs yet (I know, shame on me) or, attended a writing conference. (I live far away, but planning to change that- which is for another blog post, though.)

I did, however, start a group for writers and bloggers near where I live, so that’s a start.

So I’d rather have something that did my marketing for me, or at least contributed to my efforts while I concentrated more on my writing and editing (my own stuff: you know that takes a while.)

What if there was an easy way to tell everyone what you did without having to say a word, and they introduced themselves to you if they needed your services?

Enter Christophe Gonzalez of (Coffee Shop Freelancers), who found that fun, informative and customized decals were the answer.

Coffee Shop Freelancers is a site that features fun and informative designs decals for your laptops. The soon-to-be-launched site offers to 20% discount to e-mail subscribers.

Prices will be around € 25/$ 30, excluding shipping.

You can see some of the designs below.

Disclaimer: I wasn’t paid in any way for this post. I was contacted by Christophe about his site, and was happy to share his project after seeing the website and press kit. I did however subscribe to the e-mail newsletter, and unless the shipping costs go over my budget, I’m planning on placing an order.